Jubb Wins Eighth-Straight; Gamecocks Fall at Alabama, 4-2

TUSCALOOSA, Ala.- Paul Jubb won his eighth-consecutive singles match at the No. 1 position as 18th-ranked South Carolina men’s tennis (15-7, 5-6 SEC) fell short in a 4-2 loss at No. 26 Alabama (14-9, 4-7 SEC) on Sunday afternoon at the Alabama Tennis Stadium.

Jubb, now 27-3 overall on the season with a 15-1 mark during the spring, tied the program record for most ranked wins in season with his 15th victory against ITA Top-125 opponents.  He was the first to clinch his singles match on Sunday afternoon but Carolina was unable to separate on the singles courts after dropping a second-straight doubles point.

South Carolina remains in a crowded middle of the pack in the SEC standings which saw just two games separating fourth and ninth-place heading into Sunday’s matches. 

DOUBLES:
South Carolina dropped its second doubles point  of the weekend as the No. 1 and No. 3 pairs from Alabama each won by scores of 6-3, leaving the No. 2 match unfinished at 5-3.  The Crimson Tide never trailed in either of their two winning doubles matches, taking the 1-0 lead into singles play. 

Doubles Results:
1. No. 28 Mazen Osama/Patrick Kaukovalta (BAMA) def. No. 72 Paul Jubb/Raphael Lambling (SC) 6-3
2. Edson Ortiz/Riccardo Roberto (BAMA) vs. Joseph Brailovsky/Jake Beasley (SC) 5-3, unfinished
3. Sam Fischer/Zhe Zhou (BAMA) def. Beau Pelletier/Daniel Rodrigues (SC) 6-3
Order of finish: 1,3

SINGLES:
Jubb dominated Alabama’s 48th-ranked Mazen Osama from beginning to end on court one, never leaving his team point in doubt.  The Gamecocks’ junior jumped out to a 4-0 lead before turning in a 6-1 first set and never let the Crimson Tide All-American into the match, closing out his team-leading ninth SEC win of the year.

Carolina also jumped out to quick leads at No. 2 and No. 3 singles, with Raphael Lambling giving the Gamecocks a 2-0 lead after finishing off Patrick Kaukovalta, 6-1, 6-2. 

With the match even on the scoreboard at 2-2, Beau Pelletier took a 5-4 lead in his second-set to keep Carolina alive. Pelleiter was unable to pull ahead anymore, however, eventually falling 6-2, 7-5 to Alabama’s Riccardo Roberto. 

Shortly after the Crimson Tide’s win on court four, Thomas Brown fell short in a second-set tiebreak on court six as Alabama clinched the match at 4-2.

Singles Results:
1. No. 6 Paul Jubb (SC) def. No. 48 Mazen Osama (BAMA) 6-1, 6-1
2. No. 113 Daniel Rodrigues (SC) vs Edson Ortiz (BAMA), 6-4, 5-6, unfinished
3. Raphael Lambling (SC) def. Patrick Kaukovalta (BAMA), 6-1, 6-2
4. Riccardo Roberto (BAMA) def. Beau Pelletier (SC) 6-2, 7-5
5. Zhe Zhou (BAMA) def. Joseph Brailovsky (SC) 6-1, 6-4
6. Jeremy Gschwendtner (BAMA) def. Thomas Brown (SC) 6-2, 7-6 (6)
Order of finish: 1,3,5,4,6*

UP NEXT:
South Carolina will cap off its SEC schedule next weekend as they travel to Gainesville, Fla., to take on the second-ranked Florida Gators on Sunday at 1 p.m. ET.

For men’s tennis updates, continue to check back with GamecocksOnline.com or follow the team on social media (@GamecockMTennis).